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Revenue accountability can be a double-edged sword

More people I meet now have a number. The number I am talking about is the one people see when they look in the mirror, a number burning so hot in their minds that they can see it through their skulls. That number is the portion of revenue they are responsible for at their companies.

Every now and again, you run into CEOs who are 100 percent focused on the business rather than on themselves. Alas, finding those types of executives in an age where mainstream business coverage continues to de-evolve into extended People magazine articles is becoming increasingly difficult.

As the CEO of Veritas Software, Gary Bloom has aspired to be the CEO of his own sprawling, multibillion empire. So when Bloom agreed to merge Veritas with Symantec, he did something that seems to be increasingly rare in the industry: He set aside his own ambitions for the potential financial good of the shareholders and employees of Veritas and Symantec.

One of the busiest men at last week's International Computer Electronics Show 2005 was Mel Karmazin, the former Infinity Broadcasting/Viacom chief who is now CEO of Sirius, the satellite radio company.

If you looked simply at his resume for the past few years, you might conclude that he has trouble holding a job. But in fact, Mike Borman, appointed vice president of sales for IBM's Software Group earlier this week, has emerged as something of a troubleshooter within IBM.